building power & solidarity

Students campaigning for fossil fuel divestment have taken UK universities by storm and left the fossil fuel industry’s reputation at an all-time low. By December 2017 60 unis had made some kind of fossil free commitment. The fossil fuel industry is weak after we’ve severely damaged their social license to operate; now is our chance to take away what they need most: money.

During Go Green Week 2018, together we can get educated through films screenings and workshops; imagine a world of fossil free finance through webinars and campaign planning; skill-up to escalate our campaigns so we can win; develop relationships of solidarity with the front-line communities through online discussions; and build popular support for a world of fossil free finance and climate justice by organising on our campuses and in our communities.

Go Green Week Timeline

Before the week starts

Preparation is key to a successful Go Green Week. Use this checklist to make sure you are ready for action:

Reach out to other societies. Solidarity is integral to a strong movement, and this is a great opportunity to start building these bridges. Get in touch with anti-racist campaigners, LGBTQIA+ and queer groups, feminist societies and other social justice organisers to see if they would like to co-host some of the week’s events.

Spread the word. Make sure you advertise your events at least a week before on social media, through the student’s union and any other channels you can think of. Create Facebook events, put up posters and get in touch with other societies asking them to advertise the week to their email lists. Make sure you remain active on social media throughout the week as well.

Book your 'To the Ends of the Earth' license now

Please could you let us know:

Your university, SU or society

Your position there (e.g. staff, student)

The date and time you were interested in showing To the Ends of the Earth

Name *

Email *

Phone

Message *

Monday – Get Educated

Join People & Planet and SOAS Fossil Free Finance society in London to launch #GoGreen18 with an exclusive screening of the film To The Ends Of The Earth, featuring extra special guests involved in the film’s production.

The film, To The Ends Of The Earth, follows concerned citizens living at the frontiers of extreme oil and gas extraction, bearing witness to a global crossroads. They call for human ingenuity to rebuild society at the end of the fossil fuel era.
The people we meet are uniquely positioned to watch this global crossroads unfold.

"To the Ends of the Earth" brings forward the voices of those who not only denounce the rise of extreme energy, but also envision the new world that is taking shape in its stead: a future beyond the resource pyramid, a post-growth economy.

Not in London? The first 15 groups to sign up to show the film as part of Go Green Week receive the license for a hugely discounted rate of £100. Get in touch with us at fossilfree@peopleandplanet.org to organise a screening, and for advice on how to fund the license fee through your SU.

Tuesday – Building Solidarity

The campaign for fossil free finance is fundamentally about supporting struggles for justice in communities most affected by fossil fuel extraction. They have called for campaigners in the UK to challenge the climate colonialism of our corporations and banks by forcing them to divest fossil fuel finance.

Join People & Planet and National Union of Students (NUS) as we host a webinar discussion with representatives from struggles resisting fossil fuel extraction in South East Asia. Hear their stories of resistance, the complicity of British corporations in the imposition of fossil fuel infrastructure. and learn about what you can do to support them in your campaigns.

We'd love an escalation workshop please!

Please let us know what date and time you'd like the escalation workshop!

Name *

Email *

Phone

Message *

Wednesday – Escalate Campaigns

When we're trying to change how powerful actors like fossil fuel companies, banks and universities work, we need to be able to step up the pressure to make sure they're hearing and meeting our demands.

Request a workshop on campaign escalations and we’ll send a trained member of People & Planet staff or Regional Organiser to come to your campus and get your group skilled up to take your fossil free finance campaign to the next level using creative tactics, direct action and reputational damage.

Thursday – Divest Barclays Campaign Planning

Join student campaigners from campuses across the country in a webinar to learn about fossil free finance and how you can be part of the growing campaign for banks to ditch fossil fuel extraction.

We'll introduce the Divest Barclays campaign; hear how the campaign is going at universities across the UK; and follow the webinar up with sessions planning your own campus or community campaign in solidarity with front line communities.

Friday – Growing Support on Campus

We want 10,000 people on campuses across the UK to pledge to boycott Barclays calling for them to ditch fossil fuels by the end of #GoGreen18.

Can you help by signing up 500-1000 people on your campus?

Using the People & Planet petition tool, signatures calling on your University to boycott Barclays feed into the national petition too.Use this as an opportunity to convince people on campus of our demands for fossil free finance and invite them along to future meetings, events and actions if they’re interested.

Go Green Week is also the perfect time to get support from your Students' Union.
Use the template Divest Barclays motion to submit to your SU's democratic decision-making forum whether that's a Students' Council, General Assembly or student executive meeting to mandate the Students' Union to support the campaign and boycott Barclays themselves.